Combined tax across dividends, interest, and capital gains.
Total tax
—
Dividend tax (5%)
—
Interest tax (15%)
—
CGT (15%)
—
Net investment income
—
One portfolio, three tax rates
A Kenyan investor's income rarely comes in one flavour. You might draw dividends from shares, interest from deposits or bonds, and capital gains when you sell land or unlisted shares at a profit. The tax system does not treat these as one lump; each strand has its own rate and its own logic. This calculator gathers the three together so you can see your combined tax across the whole portfolio and the net income left in your hands, rather than working out each piece on a separate scrap of paper.
The three rates the tool applies are 5 percent on resident dividends, 15 percent on interest, and 15 percent capital gains tax on gains from unquoted assets such as land, buildings, and private company shares. Those are the figures modelled here. Because the Kenya Revenue Authority and successive Finance Acts have moved several of these in recent years, treat each rate as the calculator's working assumption and confirm the current position with the KRA before acting on a large transaction.
What sits outside the net
The single most valuable thing to understand is what is exempt. Gains on shares listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange are not subject to capital gains tax. So if you buy and sell quoted equities, your profit on disposal escapes the 15 percent that would apply to an unlisted holding. That is a deliberate incentive to channel investment through the public market, and it is why the gains box in this tool is labelled for unquoted assets only. If you mistakenly type a profit from listed shares into that box, the tool will tax it and overstate your bill. Keep listed-share gains out of the calculation entirely.
Adding up tax on a mixed portfolio
Walk through the defaults. Suppose a year brought KES 100,000 in dividends, KES 80,000 in interest, and a net KES 500,000 gain on a plot of land. Dividends at the 5 percent rate applied here give KES 5,000. Interest at 15 percent gives KES 12,000. The land gain at 15 percent gives KES 75,000. Add them and your total investment tax is KES 92,000, leaving net income of KES 588,000 from a gross of KES 680,000.
| Income strand | Amount | Tax at the rate applied |
|---|
The chart breaks the KES 92,000 tax bill into its three parts. The capital gains slice dwarfs the others, not because the rate is highest, but because the gain itself is the largest sum.
Why listed shares change the maths
The example shows a quirk worth absorbing: the lowest rate, 5 percent on dividends, sits on a fairly small sum, while the 15 percent capital gains rate sits on half a million shillings and so produces most of the bill. Rate alone never tells you where your tax goes; the size of each base matters just as much. A practical judgement for an investor planning a sale: if a holding has appreciated heavily and is a private, unquoted asset, the 15 percent capital gains charge can be a serious cost, whereas an equivalent gain on NSE-listed shares would be exempt. That difference can tilt a decision about whether to invest through the public market or privately. One common mistake is forgetting that interest and dividends are typically withheld at source, so the tax on those two strands is often already paid by the time you see the money, while the capital gain may need to be declared and settled separately around the transfer. Confirm the mechanics and the current rates with the KRA before a large disposal.
Why is dividend tax lower than interest tax?
It reflects a policy choice rather than any rule that returns must be taxed equally. Resident dividends are modelled here at 5 percent while interest is modelled at 15 percent, so on the same shilling of income a dividend is taxed more lightly. Company profits have usually borne corporation tax before a dividend is paid, which is part of the rationale for the lighter rate. Because these figures shift between Finance Acts, confirm both rates with the KRA.
Does this tool cover gains on my Nairobi Securities Exchange shares?
No, and deliberately so. Gains on NSE-listed shares are exempt from capital gains tax, so they do not belong in the gains box. The capital gains field is for unquoted assets, meaning land, buildings, and shares in private companies. Leave your listed-share profits out of the calculation, otherwise the tool will charge tax that the law does not impose on them.